Forum: Link projects; keep jail downtown

Arthur J. (Bill) Fisher

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Saturday, September 17, 2005

Why does the Midland County Board of Commissioners have such a hard time picking a jail site? Midland County has two development needs - an expansion of the county courthouse and an expansion of the county jail.

Both are expensive undertakings, which are being studied separately and evidently are being planned to be developed separately when the operation of one certainly will affect the operation of the other. They both will be a burden to the Midland taxpayer, as will the cost of maintenance and operational expenses for years to come.

One of the most important considerations should be the efficiency of operation in the future. County facilities should be run as a business, and I cannot believe that any business facing two large capital outlays would approach them separately when they are so interrelated. They should be planned together with one master plan with an overview of cost, personnel and office movement, and with a planned critical path and timetable.

We have very capable architects in Midland and the Saginaw Valley, people who are capable of designing such plans. We have been shown at the county meetings that I have attended that there is very adequate space on the present jail and courthouse property for this development. At the commission meeting where architects Otto Bensinger & Dice presented a plan for expansion of the present jail, I heard our sheriff say that he thought their plan "would be a very logical and workable plan."

This commission has been told many times by the voters of Midland that they want the courthouse and jail left at their present locations, if there is adequate room. One of the first things that the National Institute for Corrections guidelines says in its criteria is to locate the new jail at the existing location. You will have fewer problems with zoning and expenses, and people are used to that location.

The commissioners have been shown by two architectural firms that there is adequate space, so why do they still go out and hire outside agents to come in and try to find some magical place as if they did not know Midland? The reason they do this is that they do not have the confidence or courage to make knowledgeable decisions.

The one thing that disturbs me the most is that the major parking area behind the courthouse is owned by the Ashman Court Marriott Conference Hotel. They have far more parking spaces than they need, ever have used or probably ever will use. The largest number of cars I ever have seen in the lot is when the public uses it to attend the water park and Tridge programs, as the average person thinks this is a public lot.

The county should acquire the parking lot directly behind the courthouse and make it a public parking lot. Ashman Court guests still could use it. Visitors to the courthouse could use it in the daytime, as well as the water park visitors. The traffic pattern behind the courthouse and jail could be enhanced with proper planning. This situation has been presented to the commission before. They just lack the courage and confidence to make logical decisions.

Midland is the home of two large multinational companies - The Dow Chemical Co. and Dow Corning Corp. These are two very large taxpayers who know how to run a business, and Midland has many of their former or current chief exeucitve officers living right here in Midland, at least five that I can think of. They have a keen interest in the tax consequences of Midland and they have knowledge of how important efficiency is to a business in long-range planning. Wouldn't it be wise for the commission to consult people of this standing rather than hiring all of these outside experts the county is hiring year after year?